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There are only a few true musical icons still roaming the earth to get really excited about. Elvis left the building over 30 years ago, Cobain checked his head in ‘94, Joe Strummer and Johnny Cash are probably singing Redemption Song with Bob Marley on a little white fluffy cloud in the sky (or so it makes me happy to think!) So when you’re face to face with one of the greatest rock stars of all time, you’d best recognize that moment as an honour and a privilege!

And so we did. Last night, to be exact - at the ACC in Toronto when the MuchMoreMusic crew was invited to do a private, and I can honestly say EXCLUSIVE, interview with OZZY OSBOURNE!

Now I’ll tell you the truth… this is the second time I’ve worked with the Prince of Darkness. The first was 10 years ago when Black Sabbath was doing that amazing reunion tour…so I’m a bit spoiled. But what never gets old is the way that DUDES FREAK OUT over Ozzy! Our host Matt Wells and cameraman Tim Crough are MEGA fans and in all their years meeting celebrities, have never met THE ONE!

Admittedly this interview was a bit… how do you say… unorganized. It was supposed to happen in Vancouver back in October… that fell through. Then I was going to fly to Winnipeg for it. No dice. Then Detroit. Then London. By the time we got to work on Monday morning and the show was that night in Toronto and there was STILL no confirmation, Matt and I threw our hands up to it and thought, ‘well there’s no way this is happening!’

But then at about 4pm the call came in, be here by 6:30 ready to go! So we were off and running! Of course being the Rock God that he is, Ozzy was an hour late, but no matter to us, he was there! Gracious, hilarious, self-deprecating but in his full Goth-gear: the dark shades, the black fingernails, the leather cloak, the crosses and the rings. That infamous OZZY tattoo on his fingers has faded slightly from its initial shocking bold black. But come on! The man is pushing 60! Later this year to be exact.

I was THRILLED to see Sharon with him. She merely poked her head in to check out the room, was super sweet to me in between bites of her cookie and then left us alone to do our business.

Matt did and INCREDIBLE interview. They talked about the effect of the Osbourne’s reality show on his career & family, Sharon’s winning battle with cancer, being a dad, how baby barf really freaks him out. LOL! How proud he is to say he’s been clean & sober for last 2 years, how he lost his short term memory after that ATV accident, his legacy, controversies that have dogged him over the years, his broken tooth which was fixed by a Toronto doctor, Osbourne’s personal opinion of what’s happening with Britney Spears and of course… the music!

One of my favourite moments was when he said that people think Ozzy is a character you dress up as once a year on Halloween, but for him, he wants to be Ozzy every day!

I think Matt could have talked to him for hours. In fact his tour manager Steve said that is was obvious to him that Ozzy was really enjoying their interview because he was REALLY TALKING! But after 26 minutes we had to let him go. His record company was there to present the Ozzman with yet another platinum record for his latest album ‘Black Rain’. He indulged us in a few quick pictures and in a flash he was gone.

Their security director gave us working crew pass and we stayed to watch Rob Zombie and Ozzy rock the house from the side of the stage. You see a lot of interesting things from that angle… it’s a lot like watching how a magic trick is done. There’s a guy whose job it is to wipe backsplash foam & water from the stage monitors and make Ozzy hot tea. The drummer played hard but every time he went to whip drumsticks into the crowd they almost always they fell short and landed at Ozzy’s feet. I kept thinking ‘why is this guy throwing sticks at Ozzy?!’ LOL! I got more than an eyeful of Zakk Wylde beating his chest and soloing for some chickies in the crowd and of course there was the customary heavy metal titty cam. Natch. And the grown men banging their heads like they still have hair to make it look cool. Plus it’s extra hot from the side of the stage because your face is RIGHT NEXT to the pyro! That’s a trip.

But now don’t think I’m going to tell you everything I saw… let’s keep the mystery of the man alive as long as we can.

Look out for a brand new biography called The Story Of…Ozzy Osbourne premiering on MuchMoreMusic in March. It’ll be a great one. It’s a great story to tell.

Posted on Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008 at 2:54 pm by Paul Brothers and is filed under Celebrities & Pop Culture.

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